Latest West Virginia Headlines
All the headlines from our West Virginia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fourth Coal Miner This Year Killed in West Virginia
Sep 9 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal miner was killed on the job in West Virginia on Friday night, Gov. Jim Justice said. The Republican governor said Gary Chapman, 33, of South Williamson, Kentucky, died after being injured...
Inadequate Inspections and Oversight Cited in Fatal WV Helicopter Crash
Aug 29 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Inadequate inspections by an operator and a lack of oversight by the Federal Aviation Administration were partly to blame for the crash of a Vietnam-era tourist helicopter that killed six people...
Union Rep Says WV Governor Still Late on Greenbrier Bills
Aug 26 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family is millions of dollars behind on payments to employees’ health insurance fund at their financially beleaguered hotel, putting workers’...
WV Volunteer Fire Official Pleads to Insurance Fraud After Burning Down His Home
Aug 23 2024 // A former West Virginia volunteer fire official is awaiting sentencing after he admitted to setting fire to his home, filing an insurance claim, and using the fire department’s credit card for personal gain. Donald A....
Cyber Risk: West Virginia OIC Plans to Dispose of Older Workers’ Comp Files
Aug 22 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner’s office has adopted a new policy: It will soon begin destroying workers’ compensation claim files that are 10 years old or older. “Given increasing cybersecurity...
WV Governor Scrambles to Halt Foreclosure of His Greenbrier Hotel
Aug 22 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, deep in the middle of a U.S. Senate race, is also in a mad-dash legal fight to keep a historic West Virginia hotel at his luxury resort before it’s auctioned...
West Virginia Governor Touts 20th-Straight Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Decrease
Aug 13 2024 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance is recommending a 9.1% decrease in workers’ compensation loss cost projections for the West Virginia voluntary market. If approved by regulators, it would mark the 20th...
Woman Dies in West Virginia’s Second Coal Mine Fatality This Year
Jul 26 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman died Wednesday more than a week after an accident at a southern West Virginia coal mine, Gov. Jim Justice said. Ashley Cogar, 33, of Erbacon, was injured at the Wyco Surface...
WV Reminds Local Governments, Non-Profits of Flood Insurance Requirements
Jul 25 2024 // The West Virginia insurance commissioner is reminding all state and local governments and non-profit organizations that they could face penalties if they fail to obtain flood insurance on properties in flood hazard...
West Virginia’s Ludewig Retires as Agency Joins with Leavitt Group
Jul 19 2024 // Longtime West Virginia insurance agent Charles Ludewig has decided to retire, paving the way for his agency to join the Leavitt Group, one of the largest privately held brokerages in the country. “I’m looking...
Lawsuit Against West Virginia Troopers Settled in Death of Maryland Man
Jul 12 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge approved a $1 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused West Virginia state police troopers of using excessive force on a Maryland man who was walking along a...
WV Governor’s Coal Company Settles with BrickStreet Mutual in Payment Dispute
May 28 2024 // The hits keep coming for West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal companies. The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last week agreed to dismiss an appeal brought by Justice’s Southern Coal Corp. against its...
WV Coal Mine Where Miner Died Had Multiple Safety Violations
May 24 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal mine in West Virginia had a long history of safety violations before a miner was fatally injured this week operating an excavator, according to local news reports. Virgil Paynter, of...
Workers’ Comp Apportion Evals Must be Well-Reasoned, WV Supreme Court Says
Apr 24 2024 // West Virginia law, like statutes in a number of states, allows employers to try and apportion contributions to a worker’s injury, including how much a pre-existing condition may have played a role. The...
West Virginia Saw 5 Tornadoes Last Week, Double the Yearly Average
Apr 10 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — The National Weather Service on Monday confirmed a fifth tornado touched down during severe storms that barreled across West Virginia last week. That’s more than double the state’s...
Nationwide Wants 19% Increase in Auto Rates in West Virginia
Apr 4 2024 // Nationwide Insurance is asking West Virginia regulators for a 19% average rate increase on auto liability insurance, a move that could affect more than 27,000 insured drivers. The West Virginia insurance commissioner said...
Severe Weather Spawns Tornado, Damage and One Death in South, Midwest
Apr 4 2024 // Thousands of homes and businesses were without power Tuesday as severe weather roared through several states, causing at least one death and spawning possible tornadoes. Parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi,...
West Virginia Lawmakers Ban Smoking in Cars with Kids Present
Mar 25 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia, which has the highest rate of adult cigarette use in the nation, became the 12th state to ban smoking in vehicles with children present under a bill signed by Republican Gov. Jim...
Indiana, West Virginia Pass New Restrictions on Third-Party Litigation Financing
Mar 21 2024 // Efforts to rein in third-party litigation financing are on their way to becoming law in Indiana and West Virginia, a scorecard that is less than what business and insurance interests had hoped for this spring. In Indiana,...
Panel Asks W.Va. Supreme Court if Opioid Distribution Can Cause a Public Nuisance
Mar 21 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court asked West Virginia’s highest court Monday whether opioid distributions can cause a public nuisance as it reviews a landmark lawsuit against three major U.S. drug...
